Just Smile
by Hanabi-Wannabe
Summary: It wasn't that Jimin didn't like himself, it was just that he wasn't content with himself. He wanted to sing better, dance better, he wanted to look better. Not for himself, but for the fans. He felt too short, too clumsy, he sang too high, and he ate too much. But it was fine, he was fine. Hoseok thought otherwise. Jimin didn't smile as much anymore and he was gonna find out why.
1. Chapter 1

Sucking in breath and shifting his weight from foot to foot, Jimin stared at himself intently in the dance studio mirror. He furrowed his eyebrows and felt a faint sinking feeling when he lifted his shirt slightly and had to squint to make out the abs that had gained him so much popularity during his group's debut. He was going to have to try much, much harder.

"Jimin!" a shout suddenly bounced off the walls of room.

"Jiminnie!" This time concentrating boy distractedly noticed the approaching form of his roommate- and bestfriend- Taehyung.

Sighing, Jimin turned from his reflection and sent Taehyung a bright smile making his friend run towards him and tackle him, ruffling his soft orange hair.

Jimin laughed and looked up at his roommate, "Taetae, what are you doing here so late? Aren't the others out at dinner by now?"

"I could ask you the same thing! Plus, I found Yoongi-hyung's snack stash and have been chowing on that for, like, the past three hours. What's your excuse?" The taller boy smirked down at Jimin. "Anyways, I was waiting for you so we could leave together but you took so long I decided to check on you!"

"Ah, is that so? Sorry Tae… Well, let's go!" Jimin awkwardly evaded and squirmed out from his friends arms, then he scurried out from the practice room. Teahyung watched him go and then shook his head, reminded himself that Jimin was always just a little weird, that's why they got along so well.

Soon they both reached their apartment and found that the others had in fact beat them there and were already lounging about and settling in for the night. None of them really acknowledged their arrival and to Jimin that was just fine. Taehyung however was not okay with this blatant lack of appreciation towards himself and decided to pester their leader who was draped around a sleepy looking Jin.

Jimin laughed quietly at his hyper friend and walked towards his room as he'd been feeling more and more exhausted recently and honestly he just wanted to sleep for a year. He shut the door behind him and as soon as he turned back around he sighed and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and breathing deeply for just a few seconds.

"Come on, Park Jimin, come on. Pull yourself together, " he whispered to himself softly. He shook his head sharply as if to shoo away the looming thoughts that threatened to upset him and pulled out his favourite pajamas: a light blue pair with little white polka dots. He swore it was made out of clouds, it was so soft and honestly he loved the pastel colours of it, they calmed him.

He climbed into his bed and cocooned himself in his comfortable blankets that Jin had piled onto his bed once it had started getting colder outside. He fully enveloped himself until only a tuft of his bright dyed hair sticking out of the covers. Shutting his eyes tightly he willed himself to sleep, sleep, sleep. But it just wouldn't come. After what felt like an eternity of him trying to sleep to no avail, he peeked one eye open and with a small movement he peered from under his sheets at the laptop sitting idle on his desk across the room. The light on the side of the computer blinked a dull green colour.

On. Off. On. Off.

It was taunting him.

Reluctantly he slipped out from his warm bed and lifted the screen of his computer, the web browser already open and displaying the source of his exhaustion. Comments, critiques really, about how he danced, how his singing wasn't up to par with the other members, and how he looked chubbier recently. Jimin wasn't angry, he was just….Sad. He was sad he let down all of his fans.

Rationally he knew it was stupid, the negative comments were far outweighed by the many praises, but they'd been plaguing his thoughts and nibbling away at his reason and now it was all he could think about. He looked down and pinched his tummy...yeah, maybe those comments were just a little true.

"Hey you still awake there, Jimin-ah?"Jin whispered into the dark room.

Jimin jumped pack and shut his laptop down so fast he tumbled off the rolly desk chair and was now staring at his friend from the ground with large blinking eyes that just screamed guilty.

"Aish, Jimin, what are we going to do with you?" the elder said gently as he leaned down and carefully lifted the boy back to his feet.

Before another second could pass, Jimin threw himself into Jin's arms and burrowed his head under the taller boy's chin, seeking comfort.

"Hyung…" he whispered into the embrace, unable to see Jin's bewildered face.

Jin was shocked and quite worried and soon wrapped his arms fully around the enigma in his arms, his protective side coming out fully.

"Jiminnie," he started, once he pulled back slightly to peer into the boys wide brown eyes. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Hyung's worried…" he coaxed.

Taking a moment to calm down, Jimin realized how he had just acted and felt so, so stupid. What was he, a child? Jin must think he's so stupid. He quickly shook his head, no, Jin genuinely cared about all of them, that's why he was the unofficial 'mom' of their group, much to the eldest boy's feigned chagrin.

"I-I'm fine hyung… Really. Sorry about that, I guess I just...I guess I just missed you is all." He gave a small smile causing his eyes to turn into little crescents and Jin's heart melted there and then.

Jin had always had a soft spot for Jimin, seeing the boy as a younger brother to him and he thusly felt fiercely responsible for him and making sure he was healthy and happy at all times. Even though Jungkook was the actual maknae of the group, he was always looking for independence and brushed off any and all attempts at coddling him, dissatisfied with being babied and rather wanting to do his own thing. Jimin though, Jimin was the member that the other's all admittedly saw as the true youngest member, he was the shortest and acted the most innocent, and he was so eager to please at all times that he would often forget to take care of himself. Not to mention the fact that he was just precious with his fluffy orange hair and tiny tiny hands. Jin's paternal instincts (or maternal, as the other members teased him) really went into overdrive around the boy.

Gently brushing aside some of Jimin's long bangs, Jin smiled and walked Jimin over to his bed. "You don't have to miss me, Jimin, I'm right down the hall, you know? Come visit me any time you need to, ok?" he patted the boys shoulder comfortingly. "But now, you should really get some sleep. You were out practicing really late today, you need all the rest you can get,"

Jimin nodded his head as he lowered himself back into his warm bed, his eyelids heavy but the bad thoughts still lingered. All he wanted was to practice more and sing until his throat went raw. He had to improve. He just had to.

But Jin was looking at him so sweetly, he thought, maybe for just tonight, yeah just for tonight he could take a break.


	2. Chapter 2

Jin stayed perched at the end of Jimin's bed until the boy's breathing evened out and soft snores escaped his parted lips. He eyed the closed laptop on the desk behind him and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Whatever was on that computer had Jimin so on edge that he slammed it and pushed himself as far away from it as fast as he could when Jin had walked in.

He knew it would be wrong to look at it, all of the members got along pretty well in the single apartment because they all learned to respect each other's privacy, and looking on another member's laptop was definitely an invasion of privacy. Jin had found scarring things the one time he had used Namjoon's computer. Scarring.

But this was different, this wasn't just another member, this was Jimin, sweet, hard working Jimin. And Jin highly doubted the young boy had anything like what their leader had on his computer. Jin shivered. He had better not.

Justifying himself along the way, Jin leaned over and lifted the laptop, only to find the screen asking for a password. He clicked his tongue. Damn, Jimin must've been faster than he thought to have fully shut the computer down as he closed it.

Brushing it off Jin left the room and sent one last goodnight to the sleeping boy as he shut the door behind him.

"So is he asleep?" Taehyung questioned from his spot wedged between Namjoon and a half asleep Yoongi on the sofa.

"Yeah he's out like a light now." Jin apologetically smiled at Taehyung as the boy responded with a long disparaging sigh, cut short by Yoongi's elbow jabbing him sharply in the ribs several times to shut him up. Yoongi smirked when the noise stopped.

"Man, I really wanted to film something with him!" The boy muttered, rubbing his sore side.

"Sorry Tae, he was really tired, I think he really needs his rest right now."

Jin settled back into his spot on the other side of Namjoon and they all went back to the movie that Jungkook had put on, some foreign romantic film that Jungkook insisted was life changing but was so cliche that they all couldn't help but cringe when the youngest began mouthing the words along with the characters on the screen.

Around the end of the awful movie, also around the same time that every single member was bored to sleep bar Jungkook, the door to the apartment burst open and Hoseok made a commotion settling his bags down on the counter and kicking his shoes off.

"Jimminie!" He shouted, shedding his coat and beanie on the floor behind him as he glided into the sitting room.

" _Shhhhh"_ Jin and Teahyung unanimously hissed, one in favor of the sleeping boy in the adjacent room, the other in fear of being pierced by Yoongi's razor sharp elbows again.

Looking around, Hoseok took in the lack of Jimin in the room and his shoulders drooped slightly.

"Oh, is he still not back yet?" he asked nobody in particular, his foot tapping loudly against the floor and his mind racing.

"He's just sleeping, Hobi, chill," Yoongi grumbled and then proceeded to cave in on himself, attempting to block out the rest of the world in hopes of actually getting sleep himself.

Hoseok sighed and straightened back up.

"I'm just gonna go check on him, I'll be right back." No one responded and he didn't seem to care.

He opened up the door to Jimin's shared room and kneeled next to the boy's bed, laughing to himself when he could only see a shock of bright orange hair from under the mass of blankets and comforters. Jin really went overboard.

He reached out a hand and gently ran it through the boy's soft hair.

"Hey Jimin," he called, "Jiminnie~," he tried again.

After a good five minutes spent trying to gently prod the unmoving boy awake and right when Hoseok was considering more severe approaches, a quiet yawn was emitted from under the blanket pile and Hoseok smiled brightly as Jimin sleepily blinked his way into consciousness.

"Hoseok…..hyung…" came slurred from the barely woken boy. He mumbled some more but none of it was distinguishable.

"Ah, sorry Jiminnie, but I wanted to check on you and bring you this." He lifted a bag of food he had in his hands, a warm meal from the restaurant that the members had gone to after practice.

"I know you've been working really hard recently on your dance and I remember when I used to practice as hard as you are now and I used to get really really hungry, so I brought you some dinner, ya know, in case you forgot."

Jimin sat up, the blankets bunching around his waist, as he smiled at the brunette boy,

"Thank you hyung," he whispered, slightly more awake now.

He extended a hand and took the bag of food, the aroma quickly intoxicating him and making him a little dizzy. Maybe it had been a while since he'd eaten a full meal… But it wasn't on purpose! He'd just been so busy… And, if he forgot a meal here and there… well really that wasn't such a bad thing. He had even lost a little weight!

 _Not enough_ , his mind reminded him. His smile slipped a little.

Hoseok noticed though, the slight tightening around the corners of Jimin's smile that usually would have lit up a room. Something was off… usually Jimin would have been halfway through the meal by now, and he would have been singing praises the moment he found out that his hyung had brought something for him.

Not that Hoseok was offended! He was just… Confused.

But he figured the younger boy must've just been tired so he pinched one of Jimin's cute chubby cheeks and tried to make the smile a real one. He refused to sleep until Jimin blessed him with his precious eye smile, dammit!

Instead Jimin pouted at him with one cheek left red and Hoseok attempted a new tactique- tickles. Original, he knows, but tickling Jiminie was one of the most rewarding experiences to him as it often ended with Jimin red faced, giggles escaping his lips, and his hair a mess.

Hoseok launched himself at the boy, careful of the bag of food that had been discarded to the side and his fingers dug into the boy's soft stomach. Shrieks filled the room and Jimin flung himself around attempting to escape the vicious grip that had him laughing until his belly hurt.

"Please, please!" he gasped. "A-ah, please, ahah, h-hyung!" he could hardly get a coherent sentence out he was giggling so much and finally that smile appeared on his face.

Satisfied, Hoseok lent back and admired the giggly mess that was Jimin on the bed. Frowns had no business lingering on that kid's sweet face. Jimin's sleep shirt was hitched up slighting around his belly button and the elder smiled at the little strip of tan skin it revealed, proceeding to poke it with a finger teasingly.

"Jiminnie~ Maybe I shouldn't have brought you dinner, looks like you've already eaten, huh? Cutie," he joked, so incredibly endeared by Jimin's soft tummy.

Instantly a switch was flipped and Jimin felt that pang of guilt again. He shoved his shirt down over his exposed skin and shifted away from his friend, an embarrassed flush painting his face a deep red colour.

He didn't think Hoseok was the type to make fun of him like that, sure maybe Yoongi or Taehyung because the boy hadn't yet grasped the concept of a filter. But Hoseok, his hobi-hyung? His small hand tightened in the sheets and he felt ashamed that his favourite hyung noticed just how fat and disgusting he'd gotten. He'd let him down along with their fans.

Not noticing the shift of behavior Hoseok blabbered away regaling the events of his evening but his stories and jokes fell on deaf ears.


End file.
